Monday, October 21, 2013

(Technically my birthday isn't until next Sunday, so this was extra surprise-y.)

Doug refused to tell me what we were doing and where we were going, until we got in the car and he handed me a menu to The Kitchen, potentially my most favorite restaurant in Sacramento. The Kitchen is ridiculously expensive and the meal is ridiculously long, but if you love ridiculousness it's definitely worth it to save some pennies and try it out at least once.

Doug and I have actually dined here before (to celebrate our one year anniversary back in 2011). The Kitchen is open five days a week, for one meal per day, for 52 (or so) diners. It's delicious food and fine dining, but the performance and atmosphere is what makes it really special. You can watch the chefs prepare all the meals - either at the counter where they prep and serve as you're eating, and/or with a view of the kitchen (which we had) in the back. You're allowed (and encouraged!) to wander around the kitchen, prep tables, wine room (temp held at 56 degrees we noticed), back patio. It's been nominated for a James Beard award and is one of, if not THE, premier restaurants in Sacramento.They have one prix fixe course per night, but are super accommodating of any dietary restrictions, preferences, or allergies. (Last time we were here I had mentioned I wasn't a fan of blueberries in the dessert, so the pastry chef created a flourless chocolate tart for me instead, on the spot).

The food we'll get in to and it was divine, of course, but the best part about dinner?

Greg and Kendra were there! Not only did Doug surprise me with the restaurant - but inviting some of our best friends, too. Bonus points for Doug.

View of kitchen from our table. Kendra making a tea selection during the tea service.

Check out that giant paddle and whisk for the stand mixer.

Wine cellar next to our table.

Last time we dined there Noah Zonca was the head chef - and had been for over a decade. He's now the executive chef of Capitol Dime (which we were excited to try... but unfortunately disappointed - food was mediocre and prices were pretty stupid). Noah rocked it at The Kitchen, though - his style is loud and boisterous, borderline obnoxious. Last time we were there Noah gave an entire speech about the night's dinner holding two live lobsters, so we were interested to see how the food and service would change with new chef John Griffiths.

Executive Chef John Griffiths is not loud, obnoxious or boisterous. He seems much more serious (we got in to a lengthy discussion about his hometown of Detroit and the social and economic struggles the city's been facing during a visit to our table). He is soft spoken. John actually was wearing a small mic while he ran though the dinner, whereas when I imagine Noah with a microphone I immediately think of an exploded ear drum.

Us with the executive chef John.

OK. The food.

(The descriptions I'm copying and pasting from their website, FYI- because they are way too complicated to either remember or reiterate).

First Course

Cured Steelhead Trout

Brook Trout Caviar

Chilled Marble Potato and
Sunchoke Salad

Dill and Lemon

Chef's Notes: Beet-Cured Steelhead Trout - wild from Columbia River - cured with red beet, salt, sugar and spices, imparts an earthy sweetness to the fish. Lightly poached marble potatoes from local Riverdog Farms – a variety of colors, peeled and dressed with the sunchoke vinaigrette. Either local Sterling Caviar or Blis caviar will accompany the dish.

Becky's Notes: Foams are always kind of weird, but this one was actually amazing - it was one of the best things on the plate, actually. I think foams got a bad rep because Marcel from Top Chef (season 2?) overused them a bit. Speaking of, that season was rough - with Ilan the Douchebag totally bullying Marcel and Tre holding him down pretending to shave his head, then Ellia ACTUALLY SHAVING HER HEAD. WTF, these people are supposed to be professionals! And then Ilan won with some stupid saffron. OK anyway, The fish was good, and the little sweet potato chip added some good texture. It was hard to take a "complete" bite of this dish - i.e., getting a little bit of everything in your mouth at once to taste it all together, but individually all the components were stellar.

Seconed Course

Curried Tahitian Squash Soup

Maine Lobster, Seafood Sausage

Warm Nori Brioche

Chef's Notes: Curried Squash Soup
– squash, heirloom, from Del Rio Botanical – similar to butternut in texture
but a bit more butterscotch in flavor. Soup is made with roasted squash and
veggie broth, lobster shells for flavor along with scallops, lobster roe, and
shrimp "sausage". Warm Nori Brioche bread on the side, served warm
and made with toasted and coarsly ground nori seaweed wrappers.

Becky's Notes: Soup was bomb, obviously anything with lobster is going to be great - duh. But the standout was that seaweed bread. Sounds gross but it was INCREDIBLE, salty and carby and sweet all at once with that delectable spread. We ordered another round of those bad boys.

Intermission

Yes, there is an intermission. You take a break from eating to wander around and... eat.

Also a selection of nigiri sushi. The one in the very back is actually eggplant, and it may have been my favorite piece. Then fish, fish, and a little scallop salad with fresh cilantro and greens, amazing.

Scallops, fish, fish, eggplant.

We headed outside to the beautiful brick patio (complete with string lights and a fireplace - very romantic) for a small greens salad (pretty weak, actually), an oyster (I'm not a fan of oysters and this was no different, tasted like gross salty ocean), on the spot coal roasted chicken (delish), a lentil bean salad (standard), and a fire roasted pepper with a creamy sauce that was to die for (in the little square dish on the left).

This little pepper and the sauce it came with was one of my favorites of the night. Avocado and onion included.

After taking a break from eating to eat, it was time to eat again so the crowd sat down for the remaining courses.

Chef's Notes: Sheep’s Milk
Ricotta Gnudi, working with Bellweather Farms goat cheese, delicate dumplings
with ricotta and reggiano seasoned and nested into very fine pasta flour
overnight to form a thin "skin" around the cheese. Gnudi placed in a
wild mushroom broth with parmesan rind, dried wild mushrooms, herbs, and
steeped tea. Celery Root comes in the form of a puree of celery root to nest
the gnudi in.

Becky's Notes: Pasta was good. It was cooked al dente and just seemed... slightly under cooked to me? The flavors were delicious and it was sweet, slight hint of cinnamon taste - I think I just prefer softer pasta. Still delicious.

Fourth Course

Braised Wagyu Beef Short Rib

Sweet Potato Puree

Bourbon Marshmallows

New Zealand Spinach

Chef's Notes: Braised Wagyu Beef
Short Rib from Mishima Ranch - 48 hr cvap cook on them, and then seered a la
minute for a crispy "crust". Sweet Potato Puree with buttermilk, and
then we take the skins of sweet potatoes and brush them with bourbon and crisp
them for “chips”. Bourbon Marshmallows – bourbon burned off but imparts an oaky
toasty flavor. Braised greens. Chef John's St. Louis roots show up in a
"red eye" gravy – coffee infused gravy or “red eye” with smoky ham
rederings, red chili, drizzled with coffee infused jus.

Becky's Notes: Um, amazing. No photoshop or anything on the beef pictures - it was THAT PINK. Those marshmallow blobs were actually pretty tasty with the entire dish, too.

They encourage you to order as much as you want as many times as you want. So we did. Greg and Kendra grabbed seconds of the soup, Doug another ravioli, and me another wagu beef. Doug and I also ordered seconds on dessert, and Greg tried to order another beef... and they were out (again). It was actually weird that they were out. So they offered to make him something similar - so a bearded chef in the kitchen created something for Greg using a different section of the cow. It looked bomb.

At this point the restaurant looked like this:

Greg kept reminding us that, technically, "the pastry chefs don't get in until 4AM" so we were good to go. We're not the kind of group that takes an empty restaurant and busy dishwashers as a sign or anything.

So fuck it. Let's order more food!

Greg requested "something with onions... and potatoes. An onion-y potato-y thing". And so bearded sous chef made him this dish in about ten minutes:

It was sort of like a mini potato gratin with tossed roasted potatoes and caramelized onions. It was absolutely incredible and I was shocked he whipped it up in under ten minutes.

Let's refresh ourselves on what the restaurant looked like now:

Not to be deterred, Doug ordered something else:

I think this was in lieu of the ravioli dish? The night started getting kind of fuzzy at this point, since we had the wine flight and were there so long they started emptying the bottles in to our glass for the final pours.

In order to get home we hit the coffee, which is from Temple and is good. And comes with fancy sugar and creamer.

Doug in an exciting action shot with the creamer!

The suspense must be killing you!

Ah. Coffee creamed.

There is always the tea service, too, which Kendra and Doug hit up. They make the tea to order and you select one of their combinations of fresh herbs and spices that they brew in these little square teapots. Doug got the cilantro something tea (which is a BRIGHT yellow and surprisingly excellent).

At the end of the day (and there was zero doubt in the staff's minds that it was the end of the damn day by the time we left), I concluded that having a birthday was awesome. It was a great experience with my amazing husband who gives gifts of experience and two friends who are like family.